Before the Annual Meeting

• Communicate with participants in advance, requesting any information you need to introduce them effectively, including their personal pronouns. If applicable, ask for a copy of their prepared remarks.
• Be mindful of the time. Inform participants well in advance how long their presentations should take. If a presentation comes in that obviously exceeds the time allotted to it, the chair should write the author at once and insist that a shorter version be prepared.
• Ask participants if any of them would prefer that the session not be live tweeted.
• Please prepare a 3–5 minute introduction; this time is your opportunity to offer context for the session. What is at stake? Why do you think this is going to be an interesting conversation?
• You might also consider preparing a few questions that will stimulate conversation among the panelists.

At the Panel Session

• Start at the appointed time, welcome everyone to the session, and include the title of the session in your greeting for those who might have wandered into the wrong room.
• Ask everyone to silence cell phones and other devices. Inform the audience if you are requesting that the session not be live tweeted.
• Be concise in introducing the speakers.
• Warn speakers when their time is nearly up, and stop them when they exceed it.
• Presentations, panelists’ remarks, and comments should conclude 30 minutes before the scheduled end of the session to allow for discussion with the audience.
• If you are moderating the discussion, repeat or summarize all questions and comments from the audience so that everyone can hear.
• When moderating discussions, be sure to call on a diverse group of questioners. Be prepared to challenge offensive or discriminatory comments.
• Do not allow the discussion to continue beyond the session’s announced end time.
• Live tweeting: To facilitate virtual conversations arising from the annual meeting, the AHA encourages attendees to live tweet using both #AHA19 and the session hashtag, which is simply "s" and the session number: for example, session #1 would be hashtag #s1. Participants are encouraged to share their Twitter handles at the beginning of their presentations. Speakers presenting material that they do not wish to be live tweeted should make a request to the audience at that point, as well.